Primeval: Paradox - Episode 2: Devil in the Desert
by Flameal15k
Summary: A creature sighting in the desert has the newly formed team racing to find the target before the desert claims it.
1. The Devil In The Desert

The three children watched as the teens made their way toward them, idling wondering how long their (relative) elders would remain interested in this oddity. Teens liked to portray themselves as more mature than kids, but that didn't mean they this was actually the case.

"You sure they'll keep following us, Ricky?" asked the only girl among the trio.

"My hermano, Ramos, will, at least. Can't say anything about his friends, though."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Why'd you ask us to come here, Ramos?" asked one of the teens, eyeing up the leader of the group.

"My brother and his friends found something you might wanna see."

A girl snorted at them. "Is it the so called 'devil in the desert that's been popping up on social media lately?"

"Si, my friends. It is."

"You mean you dragged us out here just so show off some myth?!" inquired one of the other teens - a heavy set boy, to be specific.

""..Yes?"

"Dude, we had plans!" shouted another of the group, this one a girl.

"Yeah, I we did. Especially the both of us!" remarked the heavyset teen.

Ramos' expression changed to one of confusion, head tilting slightly. "What could possibly be so important? You've got no travels planned, there aren't any parties scheduled that I know you're attending, no concerts either, and last I checked, nobody in either of your families died."

"Well, Carol and me still had plans."

"And what would those be, Roderick?"

The two teens looked at each other, then back at Ramos, before moving their eyebrows in a rather...suggestive manner.

Ramos stared blankly at them for a moment, before dropping his head to his palm. "Cochinos, both of you."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," added the first girl, her own head in hand.

"Thank you, Olivia. Now come on, before it gets too dark."

The group trudged onwards, though some were more annoyed about this than others - they'd been dragged out all this way over what was probably a hoax?

It took a minute for the group to link up with the younger trio. Much griping was had over the presence of the young ones.

"Well, complain all you want, but they know where this thing is. Now come on, let's go!"

"Vamanos!" shouted Ricardo, before gesturing in the direction of their target. The trio were the first ones to move out, followed by Ramos and the rest of the group. Slowly, they made their way through the hills and the brush, always on the watch for hazards - cacti and rattlesnakes were the obvious dangers, but the odd mountain lion was not something they wanted meet any time soon.

It took them half an hour of hiking, but at last, the motely crew arrived at their destination. Before them was a small cave, its insides hidden away by darkness.

"And I'm guessing the beast lay within?" asked Carol, annoyed at having marched out for what was probably a hoax.

"Yep!" confirmed Ricky. "Just let me throw out some bait, and you will be amazed!"

The boy swiftly produced a hunk of chicken meat from his pack, much to the surprise of the teens, and threw it at the mouth of the cave.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, something crawled out of the cave.

The creature was...odd, to say the least. Grey, scaly skin covered its body, while its posture resembled a giraffe's, though without the long neck. Strangest of all, however, were the odd growths on its face - horn-like phalanges of flesh emerged from the corners of its head, alongside several bony nods. The larger growths were vibrantly colored, while the nods were less so.

The creature watched the humans for a moment, unsure what to do. When they did not move to attack it, though, it snatched up the meat, alongside a nearby prickly pear fruit, and retreated into the cave.

The teens were frozen in shock. This beast...it was real?

"Behold the devil in the desert," spoke Ricardo, voice rather soft, yet smug.

"...Okay, that was actually pretty cool," conceded Carol. "Now can we leave before the coyotes, snakes, or mountain lions get us?"

"Sure."

XXXXXXXXX

**AN: And so the next part of the story begins!**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	2. Foundations of a Team

Sighing, Madeline looked over the photos she had been given again - it seemed she had found a new lead for Wyatt to follow. Hopefully, it didn't screw things up massively.

A moment later, she'd pulled up her phone and was about to type in Wyatt's number...then she changed her mind and called up Ai. Wyatt was probably screwing around with one of the animals, trying to figure out how best to keep it fed.

"Calling in a friend?" asked Patrick.

"Yeah. Normally wouldn't get him involved in crap like this, but he's the expert here."

"Really? Mind telling me what this is about?"

Madeline stared at her coworker for a moment, a blank look on her face. "I'll tell you only if you get involved. Otherwise, I see no reason to. And besides, you'd write me off as crazy if I told you without proof."

"Alright, but don't be surprised if I ask you again."

As Patrick left, the dial-tone on the phone faded.

"Greetings this is Ai-"

"I know. It's Maddy."

"Oh, Maddy. Nice to here from you. So, um, how are things going concerning the...incident?"

"Still sorting some things out. Paperwork has been filed, now we just need to get some of the details settled - and of course, find a team."

"And I suppose we'll all be excluded from this?"

"Oh, no, of course not - we won't have to worry about excluding friends from this."

"..Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, our little group included, let's see, your husband, a retired member of the Marine Force Recon who could conceivably fund us if federal budgeting isn't available; you, who could take the role of team doctor with all of your medical expertise; Stephanie and Colt, who as reporters could help us with coverup stories and, should we need to publicize these anomalies, can give an exclusive story; and of course myself, to act as handler."

"...You have a good point. But I'm just one woman, and I also believe we should have a little extra muscle, so to speak, on our side."

"I have a few people in mind."

"Anyone I know?"

"All of them are friends - work with what you have. I did make sure my superiors found my choices to be acceptable, don't you worry."

"Must you sound so formal?"

"Yes. It comes with the job."

"I see...Wait, why did you call me?"

"Found something Wyatt would like to look into - I think I might have found another refugee from the past. See if you can pull Wyatt away from his animals-"

"He's not working with them - he's back to looking for more of those anomalies. Colt and Stephanie also came over."

"...Wow. He works fast."

"Actually, Colt and Stephanie asked him if he could give them any leads on finding more of these anomalies - they wanted to help out as much as possible. They even thought up a cover story already."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah - they'll say the creatures are victims of animal smuggling."

"...That isn't a bad idea. Where are they right now?"

"Same place as me - sending you the address via email now."

"Thanks. I'll be coming over in an hour and a half, along with my candidates for the team. Be ready."

"I copy."

XXXXXX

Exactly an hour and half later, Ai looked up from her desk to see Madeline entering the building, alongside two other women - one Eastern European, the other from further west.

"...Kalista? Rebekah?"

"Huh?"

"Ja?"

"...So, Madeline asked you to come over?"

"Yes," answered Rebekah, "she did. Though she has yet to tell us why-"

Just as Rebekah finished her sentence, a piglike creature burst into the room, holding a pumpkin in its mouth. Behind it, a trio of what could best be described as animal control officers were giving chase, and eventually managed to tackle to the beast into the ground. Within moments, the mammal was immobilized and being examined by a Hispanic man...who finally noticed the three new arrivals.

"...Jose?" questioned Kalista.

"...….Yes?"

It was at that moment that Wyatt finally stepped into the room. Instantly, all faces turned to him.

"...I can explain."

XXXXXXXXXX

"So, let me get this straight," began Kalista. "You found naturally occurring time portals, you just showed one that spit out creatures from the time between the end of the Dinosaurs and our own, Madeline has decided to create a team to deal with this...and she watned us on this team?"

"You're the best shots I know."

"Um, wouldn't you want military personnel on this, instead of people whose prior experience is police work?" questioned Rebekah.

"We need people from all backgrounds to manage this issue well. And besides, you're military in all but fact...well, ex-military."

"...True. So, you guys find any other portals open right now?"

"Working on it," replied Colt. "See, Wyatt's been studying these things for years and found out that they give radio disturbances on the signal 87.6 FM. Right now, Stephanie's filtering through some reports she got from a friend about radio interference on that frequency."

"Well, I was before you all showed up."

"Sorry," interjected Madeline, "but I might have found another creature. Can you check for disturbances at these coordinates?"

A ping form Stephanie's phone revealed the coordinates, which she hastily checked with her notes from before she was interrupted.

"...Yeah, that's a potential anomaly. Why're you asking?"

"On of my coworkers sent me these pictures," she said, holding up several sheets depicting a strange beast on it. "And I don't think this thing is a native."

The team looked at the photos, which depicted a strange, horned reptile (or reptile look alike, at least) living in a cave at the edge of a forest. Beyond the tree-line was a cactus filled desert, though a small stream was visible in some photos.

"...Wyatt, you or Ai know what this is?" questioned Jose.

"I do," answered Madeline, to everyone's shock. "I saw a painting of it once in a museum. It's an _Estemmenosuchus. _It's a member of the synapsids - the group that leads to us. A dinocephalian, to be precise."

"...Dinocephalian?" questioned Kalista.

"Same family as the _Moschops_ from Carnivores," replied Rebekah.

"Oh. I see."

"If this thing was still alive in the present, you'd probably have seen one before you came to the States - the ;argest variety lived in what's now the Urals."

"Ah...so, how dangerous is it?"

"It's a semiaquatic omnivore the size of a small cow. At the worst, it could be like a prehistoric hippo."

"...Well that sucks...are there any other creaturs we should be worried about from this time?"

"This thing was one of the biggest animals in its environment. Adults probably had no predators," answered Ai. "That being said, most dangerous predator of the region were other synapsids called biarmosuchians, specifically _Eotitanosuchus and Ivantosaurus. _I'll get a picture for you guys to look at soon...Oh, and beware crocodile sized salamander look-alikes. This was their heyday."

"So, what do we do now?" questioned Rebekah. "Just..go with you and catch the beasts?"

"Wouldn't call them beasts, but yeah," replied Wyatt.

"Unless you want to leave," replied Madeline. "I'm not going to force you into this, but if you back out now, there are three things you should know: I won't hold it against you, you will be required to _never _speak about this publically...and the offer will remain open if you change your mind later. It's hard to come by people worthy of trust."

The two woman looked at each other, then at the rest of the team, then sighed.

"Eh, friends are friends, tovarich," was Kalista's reply. "Now where is our gear?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: Okay, and the team lineup has been revealed!**

**Just for reference, Rebekah and Kalista are, respectively, from Germany and the Russian Federation. Rebekah used to work on the police while still in Germany and was good enough to be a member of GSG 9 (who are the playable German group in Rainbow Six: Siege)**

**So, read and review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	3. The Heat of the Desert

"So, how long you has this portal been open?" asked Rebekah, still examining the pictures she'd been given of the beast.

"Reports about the weirdo have been coming in for about a month now," answered Madeline, "but I've got no idea if that means that the portal has been open for that long or if it opened, spit out this thing, then closed. Wyatt's the expert here, not me."

"So then, Professor Watts, could you answer my question?"

Wyatt frowned. "Please don't call me that - I prefer not to be nicknamed after villains I don't particularly like."

"You don't have the attitude to match him. Now, my question?"

"...Anomalies don't stay open for a month on end - I've seen one example that opened and closed periodically for over a year, but it never stayed open for more than a few days. Odds are, the synapsid got stranded in our time."

"Great, another refugee from the past," noted Colt.

"...Would killing this thing have negative effects on the timeline?" questioned Stephanie. "I'm not for killing the creature, but if an accident happens..."

"I have no idea and I don't want to find out."

"Fair enough. So, how much longer til we get to the site?"

"About half an hour," replied Jose. "Ai, you got the tranquilizers loaded?"

"Done. Your men cleared away prying eyes, Maddy?"

"Affirmative. They cleared off the area under the pretense of 'needing to fix gas mains'."

"I see. Sure they won't see through the lie?"

"It's a half truth - there's a gas main three miles to the east of our destination that is in need of maintenance, with some utilities personnel already working on it. I just arranged for them to increase the keep out area so that we could go about our mission unmolested."

"Much appreciated," remarked Kalista, who'd just finished downing a decent sized bottle of water.

"...Why did you settle down in the desert again?"

"Wanted to see how different the Western Deserts were from the ones in the Middle East."

"Oh, yeah, you were there."

"More than twenty two years before your president sent his troops to battle in those bloodied sands."

"Yeah...can we drop the subject now?"

"We can-WHAGH!"

The entirety of the team yelped in surprise as Jose slammed on the breaks. Some of the group was only saved from flying forward by their seat belts, leaving them with a mild case of whiplash.

"What the-"

"Look forward," was Jose's only response.

The team obliged.

There, about fifteen meters ahead of them, was what appeared to be a dog sized reptile, tearing into the carcass of a rabbit.

"Oh," remarked Rebekah, before turning to Ai. "Do you or your husband know what that is?"

"...By the looks of it, _Biarmosuchus. _Smaller cousin of the top predators from horn face's time."

"I see...he looks rather slim for a hunter."

"He's from a much wetter environment - he might not be eating that well. He's also probably extremely thirsty."

"Ah, I see. So, who will tranquilize him?"

"...I think Kalista has the best aim among all of us."

"Can you hand me one of the weapons you prepared for this, then?"

Ai obliged.

A moment later, the synapsid was trying to attack the car while a dart hung from its shoulder. After five minutes of pointless struggling ,the creature had fallen asleep and was hastily being loaded into a cage.

"Great, now we have to deal with this thing," groused Jose. "Please tell me you have more men ready to contain the situation."

"Already forming a perimeter," was Madeline's response. "No sightings yet, but they've managed to clear out the area of civilians, and they may have a lead on our target."

"They do?" questioned Wyatt.

"Yeah - asked a couple of kids who saw it where they found it - claimed it was supposed to be sold illegally as an exotic pet, and that it was starving."

Kalista stared at her friend. "And they believed that?"

"Not really, but some of the kids had teen siblings who figured it was better to shut up and help the government people than ask questions."

"Ah. Well, then let's see if we can't find where this critter's hiding."

XXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take the team too much longer to reach the outskirts of supposed anomaly site. As soon as the car was parked, the team geared up. Tranquilizers were exchanged and loaded, radios were synched up, and rations were packed away.

As the last preparations were finished, a second vehicle pulled up. Out of it emerged another team, this one made up of soldiers and, somewhat surprisingly, dogs.

"...Taking no chances with tracking these beasts?" questioned Kalista.

"Yeah. Though I will admit that I don't have anything to get them on the trail-"

"I just found some footprints that I _know _aren't from anything native to this cactus filled scrubland."

The rest of the team blinked in surprise before taking a moment to examine the spot that Kalista was pointing at. Sure enough, there was a trail of five toed footprints going off into the distance.

"...Interesting," noted Madeline, before gesturing to some of the newly arrived soldiers. "Get all canines sniffing this trail - we have a large, unidentified creature roaming around here, and I would like to keep it from killing anyone."

"Understood," replied the leader of the new arrivals. "What about you, ma'am?"

"I am going to find where this thing came from. Wyatt, you have any idea where this creature might have gone?"

"From what the kids your men interviewed earlier said, it's seeking shelter in a cave to the east. There's a river to the North, though, and that's where the footprints lead."

"Alright, good to know. So, how do we split up?"

"...I go East with Colt, Ai, and Rebekah while you go North with Stephanie, Jose, and Kalista."

"Are there any objections to this plan?"

No one spoke up.

"Alright. Kilo Squad, you're with Wyatt. Lima, you're with me. Zulu Team, you stay here and keep in contact with the perimeter teams. And remember, lethal force is a _last resort. _Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good. Now, let's go hunting."

XXXXXXXXXX

**AN: I was originally to have the Teams using the NATO Phoenetic Alphabet terms for K,L, and M for their names, but Mike Team sounded kinda stupid. Oh well.**

**Read and Review (please do, I like feedback and need non-flame criticism (no puns intended) to make this story better)! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	4. Complications

"So, Wyatt, what else can we expect to find here? Giant flying reptiles? Sauropods? Man eating super worms?"

The Paleontology expert gave his friend as quizzical and somewhat annoyed look. "Dinosaurs and pterosaurs don't show up until after everything were chasing after went extinct, and there are no species of worm that ever got big enough to eat people. So no. ANd I think you watch too much King Kong."

"Well, I like the series."

"And for that I don't fault you. But listen, were dealing with creatures from a time before most remotely recognizable animals showed up on Earth. There weren't even any crocodiles yet - giant salamanders were taking their place."

"Weird. So, is what we're looking for social? I mean, hippos tend to be social, so.."

"Probably. So don't get close-"

A burst of static filled the air as the soldiers' radios sprung to life.

"Quiet!" shouted one of the soldiers with the team. A moment later, he pulled up his radio and began broadcasting. "Go ahead."

"We have a complication," began Madeline. "Looks like someone got lost hiking in the general area. They were reported missing a little while before we started cordoning off the anomaly site. Subject is a white female, quarter Mexican in ancestry, possibly dehydrated. Just be on the lookout and see if you can find her."

"Understood, mam. Over and out."

As the radio shut off, the soldier turned to the rest of his team. "Guess our mission get a little bit harder."

"One of the men I worked with did say that the only easy day was yesterday," deadpanned Wyatt.

"He get his boots wet?"

"All the time."

"Not surprised there. Now, with all due respect, let me take point."

"No argument there."

XXXXXXXXXX

Some distance away, Madeline had her eyes turned to the sky. Now, such a point of view would seem unnecessary, given that flying vertebrates would not evolve until well after the time that this anomaly had opened. Yet her eyes were still focused on the skies, where several shapes were moving.

The shapes were, without a doubt, modern ones - vultures, to be exact. Carrion birds searching the desert for food. Such a sight was not uncommon in the desert - there were plenty of places where an animal could keel over from dehydration, so a carcass here would hardly be a surprise. What was surprising, though, was that three vultures were already circling around a given point - evidently, they had found something to devour.

"Team, I've got a trio of vultures up ahead. Not a lot to work with, but it might lead us to a creature. Form up and advance."

"Yes mam."

XXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes of hiking led them to the center of the vulture's attention. Hidden among a clump of trees was the corpse of a pig - or rather, a peccary, as feral pigs had not made it this far into the United States. Tearing into it was a creature that heavily resembled the animal that had been eating the rabbit.

"Target found. Kallista, you see it?"

"Da. And I assume you want me to take it down?"

"You're the best shot I know here."

"Alright, give me a moment to-"

A loud bellow filled the air as a large shape suddenly emerged from the underbrush. Said shape soon resolved itself into an _Estemmenosuchus, _which began howling and bellowing at the biarmosuchid. The predator instantly got on the defensive, but that didn't last for long - the dinocephalian quickly shifted from posturing to charging, and after taking a ferocious blow to the shoulder, the predator's will was broken. Beaten, it limped off.

Right into Kallista's sights.

An almost inaudible swishing sound followed, which in turn was followed by the biarmosuchid howling in surprise. The tranquilizer was swift acting, though, and it was not long before the already exhausted predator collapsed.

Madeline waited until the creature was completely unconscious before turning her attention back toward the peccary carcass.

The dinocephalian was staring right back at her.

A moment passed, before the omnivore went back to devouring its stolen kill.

"...Huh. Never thought I'd see a Dinocephalian in the flesh.

XXXXXXXXX

While Madeline devised a way to capture the larger omnivore, Wyatt and his team had found themselves facing a rather unexpected challenge - namely, that before them was a creek, of all things. It wasn't too deep a creek, but a creek was a creek.

When it became apparent that there was no easy way to cross the water, Wyatt sighed, before turning his attention toward the rest of the team. "Alright, people, time to get our boots wet."

"With respect, sir, you do not order us around."

"I thought I was supposed to head whatever the task force to deal with these anomalies is."

"Yes, but this task force has yet to be fully authorized. So until we get confirmation to continue, please listen to us."

"...Didn't you defer to me earlier?"

"It's on a case by case basis."

"...You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that statement. Now can we continue?"

"Fine with me. Let's go to work."

XXXXXXXXXX

Carefully, the team made their way across the gully, always maintaining a vigil for their possible targets. Ironically, crossing the water proved to be the easy part - their was another hill to crest on the other side, to the immense displeasure of the team. A few let out groans of annoyance, though nonetheless, they began climb the hill.

When they at last crested the hilltop, though, the team found themselves facing an unexpected sight: below them was another creek, albeit this one deeper than the first. That was not the surprising bit, though.

Rather, that achievement fell upon the girl who was atop a rock island at the middle of the creek, trying to manage a balancing act. The girl seemed to be particularly scared of falling into the admittedly rather rapid water.

With only a moment's hesitation, the team hastily made their way down the hill until they stood at the shore of the stream.

Colt, in particular, was already trying to find a way to reach the girl.

"Alright, what's the fastest way across-"

Before Colt could finish his question, a strange shape burst out of the creek, on a collision course with the preoccupied reporter...

XXXXXXXX

****AN: I CAST REVIVE!****

****AT LONG LAST, I HAVE RETURNED! FINALS ARE OVER!****

****So, READ AND REVIEW! THIS IS FLAMEAL15K, SIGNING OFF!****


	5. Bygones

Colt turned just in time to see the water dweller jumping at his face. On instinct, his hands shot up and managed to catch the creature, though its mass and force of impact knocked him over. Tumbling into the mud, Colt found himself fighting to keep the creature's long, narrow snout from tearing into him...at least until Ai managed to grab it. From there, the'battle' shifted to Ai trying to hold the creature down against the ground while it thrashed about, trying to escape.

The one known as Kilo-Actual observed the sight for a moment, face a mixture of emotions, before turning to Wyatt. "Is that a...giant salamander?"

"Close enough - I'd say its a _PLatyoposaurus. _These were the things that prowled rivers before crocodiles and their cousins took over. This one is one of the biggest."

"I see. Any advice for neutralizing them non-lethally?"

"Drag them onto land - do those stumpy legs look like they're made for running?"

"Noted...wait, what's that?"

Confused, Wyatt turned to face what the female squad leader was talking about.

There, he saw an _Estemmenosuchus, _much to his shock. Said creature was...not really doing much. Just wallowing in a shallow pond, while nearby, another of its kind was feeding on some prickly pear fruit.

A brief flash of light caused Wyatt to blink in surprise, but when his eyes refocused, he noticed an odd glint coming from some nearby trees. Curious, the anomaly researcher took out a radio.

Sure enough, he was receiving interference on 87.6 FM.

"Team, think we found our target!"

Instantly, everyone formed up, barring a pair of medics, who were treating the woman rescued from the stream.

"Any creatures nearby?" questioned Ai.

"You mean besides the two already in sight?" retorted her husband.

"Yeah."

"N-"

"There's two more in the tree-line, and a third on a mound of dirt

Wyatt turned toward the soldier who had said that. "Who're you again?"

"Kilo Three. Point man of the squad."

"Right. Guess that explains why you are so eagle eyed."

"I try."

"Well, your help is appreciated. But now, we need to get them back into their time."

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"Can I make a suggestion?"

All eyes turned to Rebekah. "And that is?" questioned Ai.

Rather than answer, Rebekah fished into one of the packs the team had brought along until she pulled out an air horn, of all things. Wihtout missing a beat, she placed that on the ground and fished out a...megaphone.

Ai turned to look at her husband. "Why did we bring the megaphone, again?"

Wyatt thought for a moment, then shrugged.

Oblivious to her friends' confusion, Rebekah turned on the Megaphone, then walked toward the synapsids. Once she was close enough, she brought the machine to her face.

"Oi, dummkopfs!"

The mammal-relatives turned to look at her, surprised by her amplified voice.

Rebekah brought the air horn up to the megaphone's input, then closed her eyes and tightened her fingers.

An utterly _deafening _din erupted from the megaphone, causing all who were present to recoil in pain. Even the restrained amphibian cried out in agony, trying to defend its ears from the merciless sound.

As for most of the mammal-relatives, they did what their instincts told them to when faced with such an awful sound - run.

Specifically, run toward the portal.

Within moments, three of the herbivores had retreated into their home timeline.

As the sound finally came to a stop, Rebekah set her implements down and began to massage her ears, before turning to face her companions?

"DID THAT WORK?!"

Ai signed 'yes' to her friend.

"Yay."

A sudden bellow turned the group's attention back to where the creatures had been. The feeding and wallowing ones had refused to leave, and were instead huffing, puffing, shaking, and stomping.

Kilo-Actual sighed. "Well, three out of five isn't bad."

"Nope."

Nodding, Kilo-Actual began giving out orders to deal with the stragglers, and to assist Ai in securing the salamander relative. Colt, meanwhile, turned his attention toward Wyatt.

"So, this the only crazy thing you study?"

"Hmm?"

"Ever look into studying aliens? I mean, you have concrete evidence that time travel exists."

"Too many crazies in that group, not enough people who can act reasonable."

"Ouch. So, what about AI?"

XXXXXX

"Of course he has interest in AI. Wyatt just doesn't see anything profitable from that avenue of study at the moment," replied Madeline.

"...Think he might build one now that he's working with time portals?" questioned Kallista. Stephanie, meanwhile, looked disappointed to learn that her friend was not, in fact, building what had the potential to be the 01 from The Matrix.

"My money would be on yes, but I don't really know. I think he has a prototype on standby - he's mentioned something called Emily, and I doubt its a girl or one of his daughters."

"I see...why are you carrying iron rods with you?"

"For finding anomalies - need something magnetic to find the magnetic holes in spacetime."

Kalista and Stephanie shared a look of surprise, but before either of them could posit another question, Jose gestured for them to stop. Immediately, he pulled up some binoculars and started looking.

Madeline kneeled next to him. "What do you see?"

"...Un monstro y un cadáver."

"How big is the monster?" asked the leader of Lima Squad. "Rhino sized?"

"...Menor."

"Got it. How do we approach it?"

"IT's eighty yards ahead of us," answered Jose. "Go left - flanking it from the right will put him upwind of you."

"Understood. Men, move out!"

"Yes sir!"

While her subordinates began to sneak around the creature, Madeline pulled out her own binoculars and examined the creature before her. It was a larger version of the _Biarmosuchus _from before, but with a different color pattern. Based upon what Wyatt had said, it was some variety of biarmouschid - likely _Ivantosaurus._ The predator certainly looked capable of killing a man, but right now, it was busy devouring a mule deer.

Still, best not to piss it off-

Without warning, the feast creature froze, then pulled its snout out of the carcass and turned to face Jose, Kalista, Stephanie, and herself. Immediately, it started hissing and growling.

Madeline swore and threw up a handful of sand. Sure enough, the dust blew toward the predator - the winds had changed and ratted them out. Cautiously, Madeline began to back away, with her three companions following suite.

The carnivore did not stop threatening her.

Medline wasn't sure why, until she heard a low growl coming from behind her. Going as stiff as a long, she turned her head.

Standing only a few meters away was a large and very angry looking _Estemmenosuchus._

"...Fuck."

XXXXXXXXXX

**AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


	6. Takedown

The dinocephalian stared right at Madeline, who, despite herself, smiled

"Huh. Never thought I'd see a dinocephalian in the flesh."

Before anything could happen, a dart suddenly flew into the dinocephalian's neck. As the creature yelped out in shock, Madeline turned to face Kalista, who was smiling uneasily and holding a tranquilizer rifle.

"Why did you fire?"

"To get him to fall asleep?"

"Could you have waited until _after _he wasn't focused on us?"

"...Probably."

Further conversation was cut off when the horned creature let out a ferocious cry and charged. The quartet barely managed to roll out of the way as the creature barreled by, causing the watching predator to leap onto its kill and howl. Taking that as _their _cue, the soldiers darted into the open, with their designated sharpshooter firing a tranquilizer shot into the creature's neck. Surprised, the predator hissed at them, but unlike the quartet, the squad had successfully surrounded the predator, leaving it with no easy targets to vent its anger upon. If they could just keep it from focusing on one of them, they could wait for it to pass out.

As for the quartet, they had recovered from the charge and were now circling around the horned creature, waiting for the dart to do its work. Unfortunately, the creature was still very, _very _enraged, and immediately began to try and decide which of them it would charge. Eventually, it settled on Jose and, lowering its head, began to gallop toward him.

Looking for a safe direction to dodge, he found a dead cottonwood behind him, as well as a clean patch of dirt to his right. Jose's eyes darted between the tree, the dirt, and the charging herbivore until he made his decision and crouched slightly. Just as the herbivore was about to hit him, he dived into the dirt. Unable to slow itself down, the dinocephalian collided with the tree, dazing it and uprooting the dead plant. Jose made his escape while the creature shook off its whiplash.

The three women shared a glance before nodding - perhaps there was a way to speed up the herbivore's descent into slumber.

Stephanie was the first to provoke the quadruped - pulling out a disposable camera she kept for snap shots, she began taking as many flash phots as possible, which succeeded in enraging the herbivore even more than it already was. Growling, it charged her, only to misjudge the attack and collide with a large rock. It had barely shaken off the collision when Kalista began throwing rocks at it, trying to goad it into running toward a small cactus.

The squad, meanwhile, had the carnivore caught like a rat - they would take turns getting near it and making it lunge, only to dodge out of the way at the last minute. Slowly but surely, this strategy was working, as the creature was already panting in exhaustion. Just a few more rounds, and the last remaining fight left in it would be gone.

Further away, the armored herbivore growled in pain - the cactus spines had embedded themselves in its left shoulder, and while they hadn't gone too deep, they still hurt.

Finally, the creature turned its attention to Madeline, who was standing atop a small hill. Said woman was doing whatever she could to anger it - strutting about, making loud noises, throwing rocks, and so on. Though exhaustion now clouded its mind, the woman's plans succeed, and with a ferocious howl of anger, it charged her.

When it came upon her, though, Madeline did not jump out of the way. Instead, she merely fell flat backwards.

The dinocephalian, however, had hit the top of the hill with too much force, and ended up charging off the edge and falling over, completely overshooting its intended target. The tumbling that followed was hardly enough to damage it, but tumbling did its job as expected - dizzied and exhausted, the creature finally succumbed to exhaustion and the tranquilizer, and collapsed.

Nearby, the squad had secured the carnivore, which had lost consciousness just a few moments before.

Pulling herself up, Madeline sighed. "Someone call up Wyatt and tell him we've got two more creatures that need to be sent back in time."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, tell Maddy where we are and that she can bring them here - we have enough trouble with these two!"

Said creatures were the _Estemmenosuchus _that were wallowing/feeding on the cactus fruit. The two had maneuvered themselves into positions where accuracy with a tranquilizer rifle was...iffy, to say the least. Thus, Wyatt and his team had been forced to try and scare them into the anomaly. And so far, that plan wasn't working.

And they still had to get the _Platyposaurus _into the anomaly.

Just then, something caught Rebekah's eye. "Uh, Arthur?"

"Yes?" asked Wyatt.

"Is the portal supposed to do that?"

Turning, Wyatt saw the anomaly expanding and contracting like crazy...before promptly closing.

"..._Fuck."_

_XXXXXXXXX_

"Great, more mouths to feed," groused Madeline in annoyance.

"Eh, we expected this," noted Ai. "Though unless we can send them back, there's gonna be some problems in the future."

"I can guess," replied the FBI leader, who'd just pulled out her own laptop. Glancing over it, Wyatt noticed that it had the a tyrannosaur skull symbol - the calling card of _Saurus Systems._

"..Good choice in technology."

"Very funny. So, how are our new hires handling things?"

"Good, all things considered. Rebekah and Kalista are helping Colt, Stephanie and Jose get a feel for using rifles. Doubt they'll have improved much by the time the next anomaly opens."

"Unlikely. Is there anything else you want to talk about? If not, we can find arrange a-"

"There is something I want to know...well, a few things."

Wyatt and Ai shared a glance, then turned to Maddy. "Shoot."

"When did you really get invested in this?"

"...2011. I don't know how, but a ton of anomalies opened up, well, everywhere."

"Everywhere in the US?"

"Everywhere _period. _US, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Uganda, Switzerland, Russia, Laos, Australia, _everywhere. _It only lasted a few hours, but the satellite recordings speak for themselves."

"How the hell did I not get informed about this?"

"You were hunting the...Kataru, if I remember correctly."

"Oh," was all Maddy could say to that. "Makes sense. So, how common have these portals been since that happened?"

"They opened rarely right after this mass portal opening happened, but their frequency in appearance has steadily been increasing. I'd give five or so every three months as being the new norm. Even more in areas with lots of magnetite - high magnetic distortion increases portal frequency."

"I see."

"Anymore questions?"

"Two more, but first, I think your pet bugs want to get out of their container."

Turning to look at the jar Madeline was pointing at, Wyatt moved to adjust it, only for Ai to take the container, unscrew its lid, and gently tip it over, allowing the insects their freedom.

Maddy just looked on, unamused. "Why do you keep bugs as pets? I get why people use them as food for pets, but just having these bugs as pets?"

"Everyone has creatures they love," stated Ai. "We just happen to love all creatures in equal measure."

"Suit yourself. Now, first off, what is that thing?"

Madeline was pointing toward the enormous device in the center of the room they were in, surrounded by a wall of safety glass, metal, and concrete. A computer screen and keyboard for controlling it rested nearby, with the keyboard currently being used as a trampoline by the bugs.

"That? It's a super magnet," replied Ai. "Arthur here thinks he can use it to simulate anomalies, maybe figure out a bit more about them."

"...Interesting."

"And the last question?" questioned Ai.

"This is a personal one."

"Shoot," replied Wyatt.

"...A few months back, you sent all of your kids over to an island retreat, right?"

"Yes."

"And you also invited my daughter and sons to come along, though only my daughter did."

"I invited all children of my closest friends along for this."

"Unsurprising."

"Your point?"

"...Did you do that so that they would be out of the way while we handled this mess?"

"...Yes. Are you mad?"

"Honestly, no. But you will need to tell them about this some time. They're kids, and whatever we tell them, they'll just be curious."

"My eldest is already aware of my research into time portals."

"...Really?"

"He accidentally saw me working with one when he was younger. I refused to hide the truth from him."

"Oh."

"And we fully intend to explain the subject in detail to the rest," added Ai. "We just need to find a good time."

"I see. Well, my curiosity is satisfied for now. I'm gonna get back to my office - need to write a report on this."

"Have a nice day."

Madeline left the room, leaving the couple alone with their insects.

"...Nice save regarding the machine," spoked Wyatt. "By the way, any success with fixing its...problems?"

"Not yet."

Ai moved toward the computer, only to notice that the once empty screen now displayed a sentence:

WE ARE HUNGRY

Looking down at the pick insects currently moving around on the keyboard, Ai put a hand into her pocket and pulled out some sour candy. Setting it down beside the computer, she waited until the insects had all reached the sugary treats before getting to work, typing in several commands and hitting activate.

The machine whirred to life, systems charging, before a trio of beam fired toward the center of the area. An orb of white light formed and as the lasers terminated, the orb shattered in millions of glasslike shards. A moment later, a pterosaur flew out of the anomaly, darting around in confusion, then flew back inside.

Sighing, Wyatt took the mouse and clicked the terminate function. Barely a second later, the portal closed, vanishing from the face of the Earth.

"...Why can we never get it to open up to when these creatures come through?" wondered Ai.

Wyatt merely shrugged.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hello, Patr-"

"It's Madeline."

"Oh, Maddy, nice to hear from you. See anything interesting?"

"Think you'll find out soon enough. Listen, can you put in a request to our guys in the labs to get me a certain item?"

"Which one?"

"Object#2734J."

"Got it...wasn't that from the time you went after those smugglers in Ukraine?"

"Selling guns to our enemies is a crime...well, at least how they did it is."

"True. By the way, can you tell me what happened that led you to getting that item?"

"One day."

XXXXXXXXX

**AN: And another episode comes to an end, but more secrets are revealed! What do they all mean.**

**Side note: the thing with Saurus Systems was a reference to one of my other stories, Prehistoric Park: Returned From Extinction. The other references throughout this chapter are to established franchises that I don't own. Whether or not they will be more than just references depends on how I want to handle certain plot points.**

**Now for our sneak peak at the next chapter:**

**(Shot of a dinosaur darting through an alleyway)**

**Ai: That a dinosaur?**

**Wyatt: ..Yes, actually.**

**(Scene shifts to a sauropod interrupting traffic)**

**Madeline: Shit, shit, shit!**

**(A horned carnivore tries to take a bite out of Wyatt)**

**Colt: SHOOT IT!**

**XXXXX**

**Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!**


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